Love for TAJ!

- Those who believe that the Taj Mahal is a symbol of love, well, I don’t have anything against them. It is a belief after all! Secondly, it may have been an outcome of love that one particular man had for one particular woman. I am not questioning the sanctity of true love… but all I want to know is whether the monument is all for love?

I have visited Agra and seen the Taj Mahal… And, what I see is an architectural wonder more than a monument of love.

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How many hands should have worked on this one? How many legs moved up and down? How many headcounts? How much effort, pain and time must it have taken? How many must have toiled and died?

At that point of time when the Mughul rule was at its prime, taking over vast lands, controlling people and engaging them in building forts, palaces and monuments were quite common. Power, money, authority, ruling and command – that was the order of the day.

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Most of our ancient monuments are in ruins and about to collapse. Doesn’t matter whether it was built by some Rajput King or a Chola or a Mughul ruler or a Portuguese – whatever it is, the truth is ‘material structures doesn’t last forever… it had a time… it has an expiry…’ Recently, I had been to Avni, near Kolar district, Karnataka – here amongst the rocky areas and mountain, it is believed that Shree Ram, Lakshman and Bharat had built Shiva temple and worshipped. However, the structure is about to fall apart since the pillars are dangerously leaning, the walls are cracked and clearly, it has lost the essence. However, we try to preserve our culture, heritage and our monuments. Thanks to Archaeological Survey of India! And still, what I say is you can’t hold onto these materialistic things forever. Instead, pass on the values, practices, wisdom, knowledge and richness of spirituality that our country had and still has. Respect each other’s religious space and arrive at a consensus or a compromise so that no one is affected. Fighting over a piece of land in the name of God will lead nowhere. Besides, is today’s generation really concerned about the age old religious issues??

As for the Taj Mahal, the mere thought of burying a beloved and building a structure around the tomb and then making it sacred doesn’t seem to fit into my head. The monument is no doubt, ‘Wah Taj!!!’ and no denying that.